I like the suggestion made by several in the comments section of a blog post by The Shadow Sunday night.

Not only should the Wilson High football team’s members (as well as coaches, cheer squad members and anyone else who like to do so) display Melody Ross’s initials on their uniforms and clothing, but it should be done the Moore League-wide for the remainder of the football season – including the playoffs.

Her Friday night murder – and the shooting of two others – after Wilson’s home game against Poly are universal tragedies that transcend any racial, social and economic factors.

Displaying Ross’s initials on clothing at a football game would be a simple thing to do but it would be a nice way to celebrate the life of a young woman who was taken from her family, friends and all of those whose lives would have been enriched by crossing paths with her for the next 60 or 70 years.

And it’s a gesture that is worth being made by those playing in, or attending, high school football games anywhere in Southern California for the rest of the season.

On the field

There still two weeks to go in the regular season but the CIF Southern Section playoff fields are already starting to take shape.

Barring any other upsets, Millikan can secure a spot in the Pac-5 bracket with a win over Compton Friday night.

The Los Alamitos Griffins need to close Sunset League play with victories over Esperanza (Thursday night) and currently unbeaten Fountain Valley (next week) and could – even at 8-2 overall – find themselves trying to navigate through tie-breakers to get into the playoffs.

A Los Alamitos squad with an 8-2 record would be hard to deny the division’s one at-large bid, though, if it comes to that.

On the subject of the Griffins, Los Alamitos played about as well as it could defensively despite the team’s 27-10 loss to unbeaten and top-ranked Edison Friday night.

I’m not sure the Griffins would have won anyway, but they certainly weren’t helped by pass play was ruled a “fumble” (it appeared to be an incomplete pass) that Edison turned into a touchdown.

Coach John Barnes’ team hurt itself plenty, seeing a field-goal attempt blocked and turned into a touchdown, and losing a fumble that Edison fell on in the end zone.

The Griffins held one of the best offenses in the state without a touchdown and couldn’t win – which speaks to both the quality of Edison’s own defense and the Chargers’ ability to capitalize on any and all opportunities.

Following its 42-33 Suburban League loss to La Mirada Friday night, formerly unbeaten and top-ranked Norwalk fell to fourth in the Southern Section’s Southern Division ratings while the Matadors climbed from third to second behind now-No. 1 Garden Grove.

No biggie, though.

There will be a Suburban League rematch in the divisional final.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if three teams from the league – Mayfair joining the aforementioned duo – advance to the semifinals.

Dave Radford – who seemingly coached football just about anywhere there was a football team in Long Beach – wrote to mention that there was a reunion of coaches and players from Millikan’s 1979 Dick DeHaven-coached Southern Section Coastal Conference championship team the evening of the current Rams’ squad’s upset victory over Poly a couple of weeks ago.

Radford, who was the head coach at Millikan , the last time the Rams beat Poly (15-13), said quarterback Cliff Mosley – who orchestrated that victory – was also on hand at Millikan on Oct. 23 when the Rams’ prevailed, 35-34, in double overtime. Mosley now lives in San Diego and works in upper-management for an import-export company.

On the court

The 31st edition of the Press-Telegram’s Best in the West basketball team is scheduled to be published Sunday.

Here are a few hints:

There were 64 ballots cast by college coaches and recruiting analysts, six more than a year ago.

Ten players received “No. 1 prospect in the West” designation and 90 players appeared on at least one ballot.

Of the 15 First Team members, 10 attend California schools.

Just three of the First Team selections have yet to commit to a college.

The Long Beach State men’s squad held a closed scrimmage (no fans and media allowed, per NCAA regulations) against University of San Diego Saturday afternoon in the Walter Pyramid.

Forty-Niners Coach Dan Monson said the main benefit of the scrimmage “was getting a lot of stuff on video that we could show the players and illustrate a lot of things we’re trying to teach them.

“We got a lot more out of it than we would have by playing an exhibition game against a (NCAA-designated) Division II program,” he added.

Junior guard Greg Plater and sophomore post Eugene Phelps “played (in the scrimmage) like they have been practicing, and that pleased me,” Monson said.

The 49ers play host to another one of those “For coaches and players’ eyes only” (give or take a few exceptions) scrimmages Saturday afternoon against UNLV.

They lace `em for real on Nov. 14 when they open the season against Alaska-Anchorage in the Walter Pyramid.

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